Knitting machine needle

ABSTRACT

A butt section made of flat stock is fused to a hook and blade section made of wire stock. The fusion is made along longitudinal portions of the two sections.

United States Patent Torrant et al.

[451 Jan. 8, 1-974 4] KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE OTHER PUBLICATIONS [75]Inventors: James Peter Torrant; Carl F.

Benson both of Torrington Conn Handbook, 5th American Society, 1962; p.8.20. TS 227. A 5h 1962. [73] Assigneez The Torrlngton Company,

Torrington, Conn. Primary Examiner-W. C. Reynolds [22] Flled' June 1972Assistant Examiner-A. M. Falik [21] App]. No.: 267,409 Att0rneyDavid W.Tibbott et al.

[52] US. Cl. 66/123 51 Im. Cl D04b 35/02 7] TRACT [58] Field of Search66/119, 123; 163/2,

163/3 A butt section made of fiat stock 1s fused to a hook and bladesection made of wire stock. The fusion is [56] References Cited madealong longitudinal portions of the two sections, UNITED STATES PATENTS 2Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 621,950 3/1899 Stewart et al 66/123 I8 j 1 LPMENTEU 81974 a w wt w.

KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE This invention relates to knitting machineneedles. More particularly, this invention is a novel knitting machineneedle made from flat stock and wire stock.

The demand for fabrics made by knitting machines is continuouslyincreasing. To satisfy this increasing demand, manufacturerers insistthat knitting needle makers provide knitting needles that will lastunder continuously increasing knitting machine needle speeds.

It has been found that under certain conditions, if the knitting needlebutt section is made from flat stock, the needle can be made moreuniformly, accurately and stronger with more latitude to form the verycomplex butt configurations required to meet knitting machine patterncam requirements and because of is solid rectangular cross-section, canoperate better than other needles as they are reciprocated in slotsformed in a knitting machine cylinder or knitting head. However, it hasalso been found that it is more desirable to make the hook and bladesection of the needle from wire stock. The wire stock makes a betterhook edge than flat stock. If flat stock were used for the hook andblade section, the hook often breaks much quicker than when wire stockis used. I

For many years, those skilled in the art of knitting needle making havebeen working diligently to devise means for connecting the flat stockbutt section to the wire stock hook and blade section and still maintainsufficient strength for the needle to last under knitting needle machineoperating conditions. However, in the past, these efforts have beenunsuccessful.

We have invented a new knitting needle made from wire stock and flatstock which will work successfully under modern knitting machineoperating conitions.

Our new knitting machine needle comprises a flat stock butt section anda wire stock for the hook and blade section which two sections are fusedtogether along overlapping longitudinal portions of both sections.Preferably, the length of the fused portion should be at least fifteentimes the thickness of the butt section.

The invention, as well as its many advantages, may be further understoodby reference to the following detailed description and drawings inwhich:.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the needle;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the needle of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, our new knitting machine needle includes a flatbutt section 10 which is fused by welding or other fusion methods to awire stock hook and bladesection 12. The hook and blade'section includesa blade 14 with a hook 16 located at one extremity of the blade. Latch18 pivots about pivot 20 as the knitting needle is reciprocated in theknitting machine.

FIG. 2 shows clearly that the wire stock blade 14 is fused to a reducedheight portion 22 of the. flat stock by fusion means such as welding 24.The thickness of the weld is exaggerated in FIG. 2 for clarity.

The reduced height portion 22 flows into the remainder of the flat stockbutt section 10 through a curved 10 portion 26. The fusion 24 of thelongitudinal portion of the blade section 12 is substantially equal tothe length of the reduced height portion 22 of the flat stock buttsection 10. Preferably, the length of the fused portion 24 should be atleast times the thickness 30 (see 5 FIG. 3) of the flat stock buttsection 10.

In operation, the knitting machine needle reciprocates in the samedirection as its longitudinal axis. As the needle reciprocates, it issubjected to great tension and compression in the same direction as thereciprocating motion of the needle.

Modern needles are often as thin as 0.011 inches. If the extremity ofthe hook and blade section 12 were fused to the extremity of the flatstock section 10, the needle would quickly fail because such welds areweak 25 under stresses. However, by providing thelong lap joint 24, thefusion is along a direction parallel to the axis of the knitting needle;and, therefore, parallel to the needle reciprocal motion. This providesa much larger fusion area and thus greater strength to resist bending,

tensional and compressive loads in knitting needles.

The curve section 26 in the flat stock butt section 10 eliminates anysharp corner at the junction of the wire stock blade 14 and the flatstock butt section 10. We have found that under some circumstances, theprojection of sharp comers causes earlier fatigue failure than occurswhen sharp comers are eliminated by the provision of curve 26.

We claim:

1. A knitting needle comprising:

a flat stock butt section having a longitudinal portion of reducedheight connected to the remainder of the butt section by a curve formedon the butt section; and

a wire stock hook and blade section, a longitudinal portion of the bladesection being fused to the reduced height portion of the butt sectionfor a length at least equal to the length of said reduced height portionof the butt section.

2. A knitting needle in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

the length of the fused portion is at least 15 times the thickness ofthe butt section.

II i

1. A knitting needle comprising: a flat stock butt section having alongitudinal portion of reduced height connected to the remainder of thebutt section by a curve formed on the butt section; and a wire stockhook and blade section, a longitudinal portion of the blade sectionbeing fused to the reduced height portion of the butt section for alength at least equal to the length of said reduced height portion ofthe butt section.
 2. A knitting needle in accordance with claim 1wherein: the length of the fused portion is at least 15 times thethickness of the butt section.